During my first semester here at URI, I really enjoyed most of the classes I took. Most of them were classes not relevant to my major however in some classes, I learned techniques to learning and studying that I can use to further my education. Specifically in this class, I learned about websites that can help me stay organized and put all my thoughts together so I can go back and make connections deeper than I had before. Education is being modernized and at first I thought this wasn’t entirely beneficial to education. We see how laptops and tablets are being brought into elementary and high schools in place of books. We now have to hope our children have the self-discipline to stay on task when they have a whole world wide web they can explore instead. After this semester and using sites such as Evernote and Zotero, I see the positive impact it can make on education.
My most consistent challenge in learning this semester was keeping each class separate from the next and being prioritized enough to keep the easier classes from completely falling to the wayside. When I became aware of Evernote, I was entirely confused on how to use it. I made the notebook I was supposed to for class but beyond that, I found it to be too difficult. As time went on it became easier and easier. I now have a new notebook for each book we read and then a table of contents for each chapter. With each chapter, I put the summaries and assignments we did in class. At the very bottom of that, I put topics or insights brought up in class from other classmates, after we had completed that chapter. I later was introduced to Zotero where it completed my citations efficiently and correctly to keep my essays from becoming a mess of information.
One strategy I definitely adopted this semester to deepen my learning from what I did in high school would be using all of my given resources. In high school, I would never go to the library or use any of the databases my school supplied. I constantly played the game of school and only did what was necessary to get by. My habits in the beginning followed the same from high school. I later saw as I fell behind in my Biology class that I could no longer do this and wish to succeed in anything. I spent countless hours in the library spreading all my work across a table catching up and I eventually did. I go almost 3 times a week and use their databases to further my essays and assignments I don’t entirely understand. I now go to the library at least 3 times a week just to use their resources and I have seen its impact on my grades.
I am thankful I learned how to use Evernote in this class because I will have them forever at a click of a button. Viewing these notes as a lasting resource can help me in future courses because I can use my own information and research to back up new research for other classes. Even this semester, I am going back in my notes created on Evernote to write my final exam. Looking forward in this class, I scrolled through previously written finals to find a lot of them used their Evernote notes as sources for their essays. Using these with new information will definitely deepen my understanding into concepts touched upon this year. I really like how you can screenshot or clip an entire article to your board and then make comments right on the article. This makes learning and research so much easier with everything organized in one space right in front of you.
Evernote has proven to be very beneficial to my education and helping me on the road to becoming a deep learner. I will always have a hard time organizing my thoughts, ideas, and articles of research but at least I now have a website I can work and I know will be beneficial to me. I wouldn’t say I am 100% comfortable with Evernote but I will be! It has given me a new way to succeed in my classes and I know I will carry not only Evernote and Zotero but also all the techniques I learned in this class to my new classes and my learning as a whole.
My most consistent challenge in learning this semester was keeping each class separate from the next and being prioritized enough to keep the easier classes from completely falling to the wayside. When I became aware of Evernote, I was entirely confused on how to use it. I made the notebook I was supposed to for class but beyond that, I found it to be too difficult. As time went on it became easier and easier. I now have a new notebook for each book we read and then a table of contents for each chapter. With each chapter, I put the summaries and assignments we did in class. At the very bottom of that, I put topics or insights brought up in class from other classmates, after we had completed that chapter. I later was introduced to Zotero where it completed my citations efficiently and correctly to keep my essays from becoming a mess of information.
One strategy I definitely adopted this semester to deepen my learning from what I did in high school would be using all of my given resources. In high school, I would never go to the library or use any of the databases my school supplied. I constantly played the game of school and only did what was necessary to get by. My habits in the beginning followed the same from high school. I later saw as I fell behind in my Biology class that I could no longer do this and wish to succeed in anything. I spent countless hours in the library spreading all my work across a table catching up and I eventually did. I go almost 3 times a week and use their databases to further my essays and assignments I don’t entirely understand. I now go to the library at least 3 times a week just to use their resources and I have seen its impact on my grades.
I am thankful I learned how to use Evernote in this class because I will have them forever at a click of a button. Viewing these notes as a lasting resource can help me in future courses because I can use my own information and research to back up new research for other classes. Even this semester, I am going back in my notes created on Evernote to write my final exam. Looking forward in this class, I scrolled through previously written finals to find a lot of them used their Evernote notes as sources for their essays. Using these with new information will definitely deepen my understanding into concepts touched upon this year. I really like how you can screenshot or clip an entire article to your board and then make comments right on the article. This makes learning and research so much easier with everything organized in one space right in front of you.
Evernote has proven to be very beneficial to my education and helping me on the road to becoming a deep learner. I will always have a hard time organizing my thoughts, ideas, and articles of research but at least I now have a website I can work and I know will be beneficial to me. I wouldn’t say I am 100% comfortable with Evernote but I will be! It has given me a new way to succeed in my classes and I know I will carry not only Evernote and Zotero but also all the techniques I learned in this class to my new classes and my learning as a whole.